KCK Trial delegation October 2010

In October 2010, Peace in Kurdistan Campaign organised a delegation of legal and political representatives from the UK to observe the opening of a mass trial of 151 Kurdish political leaders in Diyarbakir. The defendants are charged with being members of the umbrella organisation of civil society groups, the KCK, which the Turkish government alleges has connections with the prohibited Kurdistan Workers’ Party (PKK). Jeremy Corbyn MP, Hywel Williams MP, Margaret Owen, human rights lawyer, Hugo Charlton, barrister, and lawyers Ali Has and Serife Semsedini, witnessed the prosecutors submit a dossier of charges of 7,500 pages to the court, as well as a massive show of solidarity for the defendants from inside and outside the courtroom. The observers provided us with their reflections on the trial, and its implications for the future of democracy in Turkey, for our report Mass trials put all Kurds in the dock. Download the full report here: KCK Trials report